City's old downtown showcased in art of Lei Zhen
"Zhangyuan Garden" by Lei Zhen
Lei Zhen, an oil painter
A retrospective of the work of Lei Zhen, a Shanghai landscape oil painter in his 70s, is being staged at Reeb 1987 in Meilong Town of Minhang District.
It showcases the city's old downtown, lanes, historic relics and architecture.
The artist spent three decades treading through Shanghai's old downtown and its lanes with a paint box and a camera, recording transient profiles, before the city's urban renewal.
During the opening ceremony of the exhibition, Lei donated his "A Mountainous Village of Türkiye" to Japan Sakura Co to express his gratitude, and three works of past Jewish accommodation in Shanghai to the Consulate General of State of Israel in Shanghai as a celebration of humanity and international friendship.
"I used to live in an old lane on Daming Road in Hongkou District before relocating to the suburbs," said Lei.
"I thought it was a painter's duty to record this historic change of urban landscape. I did sketches and research and took photos of the original architectures before I created more than 100 pieces of urban landscape oil paintings.
"It had to be a journey with a great labor. A scenery might fit for a minute only with its morning sunshine, or a street looks best with a hazy, historic tint and some nostalgic bustling only after a rain. I recorded these moments through repetitious trials and summarizations.
"To be an artist might be a calling," said Lei, who then recalled his apprenticeship and some anecdotes during his artistic pursuit.
Lei acknowledged Chinese oil painting artist Yan Wenliang (1893-1988) as his master.
"I would show him my paintings I did in my spare time, and he always praised me," he said.
"Mr Yan would praise us in his Suzhou dialect with different intensity of an acclaim: 'Good,' 'Really good,' 'Stunningly well,' 'I can't believe you can do so good.' But when he directly pointed out your failings, that might show he really liked you from the bottom of his heart.
Lei said the greatest benefit he had gained from his teacher was Yan's persuasion to be a good person before becoming a good artist.
"I had tuberculosis. Before full recovery, I went to Anhui Province. I filled into positions first as a stage curtain painter in a theatrical troupe, then as cinema poster painter and later a curator of an exhibition hall," Lei recalled.
He would still visit Shanghai and buy some painting utensils at a store on Fuzhou Road.
"One time I bought some Sakura oil pastels there and they lacked some colors. The shop assistant was nice enough to take notes of the missing colors. And finally, to my surprise, they drove a vehicle to deliver the rest of the colors all the way to my home in Anhui," the artist recalled.
"Then I used those oil pastels to create a painting for the store to express my gratitude."
He was later sponsored by Japan Sakura, an art supplies company, to hold an exhibition in Shanghai. Later he worked as the company's art director in Shanghai to promote children and youth painting exhibitions in the city.
"Different people have their different learning opportunities, life experience and fortunate encounters, and therefore their different roads of artistic pursuit," he said.
"I am 78 and still creating."
Lei Zhen (first from right) donates his oil paintings of past Jewish accommodation in Shanghai to the Consulate General of State of Israel in Shanghai as a celebration of humanity and international friendship.
"A Mountainous Village of Türkiye" by Lei Zhen
'Impression Shanghai' and 'See the World'
Lei Zhen's artworks are featured in two separated sessions. From May 27 to June 26, his oil painting works about Shanghai's urban landscape are showcased at the exhibition "Impression Shanghai." From June 27 to July 27, Lei's paintings featuring world landscape will be on display at the exhibition "See the World."
Days: Through July 27, 10am-5pm, (closed on Mondays)
Venue: DD Art Space of Reeb 1987
Address: 18/F, West Tower Building, Reeb 1987, 91 Yimei Rd
益梅路91号力波1987创意园西塔18楼
